Suspended officers cost Windsor police $2.6 million over 11 years, data shows

Windsor police paid more than $2.6 million over the last 11 years to officers who weren't working, according to data compiled by CBC News on officers who were suspended with pay.

Out of the 501 officers on the Windsor Police Service, 13 were suspended with pay during the time period from 2013 to April 2024.

In LaSalle, one officer was suspended with pay over that time, at an estimated cost of just over $61,000.

Currently in Windsor, three officers are under suspension with pay at an estimated cost of just over $128,000 since the beginning of the year.

Until recently, Ontario was the only province that required all suspended officers receive their full pay to stay home, unless they had been denied bail or sentenced to imprisonment.

Ontario taxpayers shelled out about $134 million to suspended police officers over the past 11 years, according to an exclusive database compiled by CBC News that looked at 44 police forces across the province.

According to the statistics, five Windsor officers were suspended during that time period for allegations involving gender-based violence, and one for sexual assault charges.

The Windsor Police Service didn't respond to CBC's request for comment on Wednesday. CBC made several inquires to the Windsor service during its research for the data project, the service referred CBC to the freedom of information process.

Both the Windsor Police Association and the chair of the police board were unavailable.

How Windsor stacks up against other police services

New legislation rules came into effect last week that would allow police chiefs in Ontario to suspend officers without pay in certain circumstances.

It only applies to accusations of a serious, indictable offence committed while the officer was off duty, such as murder or aggravated sexual assault. And every decision to suspend an officer without pay would first go before an adjudicator.

For years, police chiefs in Ontario have called for more authority to fire problematic members and suspend officers without pay.

No agency or government office tracks or makes public the total number of suspensions in the province.

Critics say it leaves the public in the dark about the scope of suspensions, the allegations that led to them, and their outcomes.